The present invention relates to seats for vehicles.
Vehicles are generally provided with seats having a seat structure covered by cloth, vinyl or leather. Conventional vehicle seats are generally made with foam bodies or spring and padding construction. Such seats are relatively expensive to manufacture and are relatively heavy. Structural foam seats generally have a backing of metal or plastic and have achieved some cost savings and weight reduction compared to spring structure seats.
When conventional seats are exposed to sunlight, the surface of the seats becomes hot and may be uncomfortable to sit on. Vinyl or leather seats can be uncomfortable to sit on for extended periods of time, especially if it is warm since there is no convenient way to provide ventilation of the seat surface when a person is sitting on a seat.
Specialty vehicles such as golf carts and utility vehicles generally are provided with foam seats that are vinyl covered. The weight of such seats increases the load carried by the vehicle and may reduce the range of electric powered vehicles. The use of conventional seats also tends to limit design flexibility.
These and other problems and disadvantages are addressed by applicants"" invention as summarized below.
According to the present invention, a seat for a specialty vehicle is provided that comprises a base having a seat form member, a bottom plate, and a seat fabric web. The fabric web is stretched over the seat form member and captured between the seat form member and the bottom plate. A back of the seat has a back frame, a front clamp member, a rear clamp member and a back fabric web. The back fabric web is stretched over the front clamp member and is entrained around the back frame and captured between the front and rear clamp members.
According to further aspects of the invention, the seat form member may be a generally inverted cup shape member having a cylindrical outer wall and a shallow recess defined by a top surface that is spanned by the seat fabric to provide a flexible seating area. An opening may be formed in the top surface that has a flange extending downwardly from the top surface that is coaxial with the outer wall. The bottom plate may have a raised portion located radially inwardly from an outer edge thereof and a centrally disposed circular opening. The cylindrical outer wall of the seat form member is received on the bottom plate radially outwardly of the raised portion and the flange extending downwardly from the opening is received by the centrally disposed circular opening in the bottom plate.
According to other aspects of the invention, the seat back frame is secured to the base. The seat back frame is a generally inverted U-shape member having right and left legs extending downwardly that are adapted to be secured to the base. A lower back support member extends across the seat back frame between the right and left legs. The seat back frame may be secured to a base support ring and the base is secured to the base support ring. The lower back support member is secured to the base support ring and right and left legs with the lower back support member extending between right and left legs above the support ring. The lower back support is secured to the ring in front of the right and left legs of the seat back frame. The lower back support member is concave in the forward direction to provide a concave surface over which the back fabric web is stretched. The front clamp member has a first concave lower portion and the rear clamp member has a second concave lower portion that are secured to the concave surface of the lower back support member between the right and left legs.
According to another aspect of the invention, the seat may be secured to a pedestal that may be either a single pedestal or a double pedestal on which two seats are supported.
These and other aspects of the invention may be better understood in view of the attached drawings and in light of the following detailed description of the invention.